Blicca bjoerkna

Blicca bjoerkna, alternatively called the white bream or the silver bream, is a European species of freshwater fish in the Cyprinidae family.

Distribution

Blicca bjoerkna is distributed across most of Europe and in the adjacent Western Asia. The natural distribution however excludes peripheral areas including northern Sweden, northern Finland and Norway, and most parts of the British Isles (except Southern England) as well as the Iberian and Italian peninsulas. Introduced populations occur also in Spain and Italy, for instance. The Asian distribution is in the Caspian Sea and Aral Sea basins and in Anatolian Black Sea drainages.

Description

Small silver bream are very similar in overall appearance to the immature 'common', or 'bronze' bream, Abramis brama, but can be distinguished by the larger scales. Counting the scale rows from the front of the dorsal fin to the lateral line and including the lateral line scale, is the most reliable first step in determining the species. Bronze bream have 13 scales or more, Silver bream 9-11. The Lateral line scale count for silver bream is 44-49, whilst for bronze bream it is 49 and above, and more usually well above 50.